Foam fractionation is one of the novel techniques used nowadays for the wastewater treatment. The present paper discusses the removal of methylene blue dye by using a surfactant, sodium dodecyl sulfate, as a collector, by semi-batch foam fractionation technique. The influence of operating variables like aeration rate (150 – 250 mL.min<sup>-1</sup>), liquid height (600 – 900 mL), dye concentration (5 – 25 ppm), pH (3 – 10), surfactant dose (250 – 2000 ppm) on percentage removal, enrichment ratio and surface excess were investigated. The results revealed fairly high percentage removals at various operating conditions due to strong electrostatic interaction between dye and surfactant. Further, in order to augment separation, optimization was performed by employing Taguchi-based experimental design followed by Grey relational analysis (GRA) technique. The optimal conditions were found to be: 150 mL.min<sup>-1</sup> air flow rate, 600 mL liquid loading and 5 ppm dye concentration for percentage removal of 95.7% and an enrichment ratio of 7.49. The analysis of variance (ANOVA) suggested dye concentration to be the most influencing operating variable. Lastly, the equilibrium relationship between bulk and surface phase was established which qualitatively indicates as to how much the actual process departs from equilibrium.
The isolation of dye (methylene blue) by employing a foam fractionation technique with the assistance of a surfactant (sodium dodecyl sulfate) has been dealt with in this paper. This study also incorporated the comparison between contrasted and experimental columns. Taguchi methodology and grey relational analysis techniques were used to ascertain optimal conditions at which the column should be operated to achieve maximum percentage removal and enrichment ratio, for both the columns. The analysis of variance study suggested dye concentration to be the most influencing parameter. The relationship between dye concentration in the bulk phase and the foam phase was also deduced.
scite is a Brooklyn-based organization that helps researchers better discover and understand research articles through Smart Citations–citations that display the context of the citation and describe whether the article provides supporting or contrasting evidence. scite is used by students and researchers from around the world and is funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.